Receivers coach Wyatt says young players, not pros, more eager to learn

I can think of a thousand reasons why college football is better than the NFL.

Newest addition to the list: Darrell Wyatt.

Wyatt is Arizona’s new wide receivers coach, and head coach Mike Stoops was thrilled to land someone the Minnesota Vikings threw back after one year on the job.

“He’s been offered four jobs since he has been here,” Stoops said of Wyatt, hired in early February. “He can coach anywhere in the country.”

Including back in the NFL if he wanted.

One of those recent job offers came from there.

Wyatt is smart enough not to close the door on any of those Sunday coaching opportunities, but he is happiest on campus, dealing with players who, you know, just might actually be interested in what he has to say.

As soon as he got to Minnesota last year, he knew he missed the college atmosphere.

“When you take money out of the mix, it is a lot more enjoyable,” said Wyatt, a 40-year-old graduate of Kansas State.

“Here, they are still playing for the university, the team and their teammates. A lot of times, when you get to the professional level, it becomes all about the almighty dollar.

“Certainly, (college players) are a lot more open to listening and learning.”

Wyatt isn’t making a blanket statement about the nature of NFL players, but one of those players he failed to reach in Minnesota was Marcus Robinson. The feeling from Robinson’s corner was that Wyatt was out of his league in the NFL.

“I’m not going to say I learned a lot,” Robinson told the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press, referring to his time with Wyatt.

“I have no qualms against any coaches, but he definitely has a lot of things he has to learn. This was his first year as an NFL coach. That’s a big change, coming from college to the NFL.”

Robinson was later released by Minnesota.

Meanwhile, Wyatt is in his element at Arizona.

He has been a classic career climber as an assistant coach, going from junior college to a I-AA school, to a non-BCS conference school, to a Big 12 school, to a better Big 12 school, to a still-better Big 12 school, to a national-championship-level team in Oklahoma from 2002 to 2005.

And then to the NFL.

Hey, it’s not as if being given the boot by an NFL team is a big demerit on his résumé. Let’s check around the Pac-10. Oh, yeah, head coaches Pete Carroll, Dennis Erickson and Mike Riley were all fired by NFL teams.

At Arizona, Wyatt fits because of his time at Oklahoma, with an offense loosely based on Mike Leach’s schemes. The Cats have switched to a more pass-happy version of Leach’s attack, which new coordinator Sonny Dykes imported from Texas Tech.

And Wyatt is acknowledged as a top-notch recruiter who is well known in Texas, one of the Wildcats’ anchor states for mining talent.

“I love being part of young guys making such a huge decision in their lives,” Wyatt said.

With the offense moving to a scheme that often requires a four-receiver set, Wyatt is in charge of the key position group this spring. If young receivers don’t emerge, and if veterans don’t adapt and improve, the “Air Raid” offense will remain tethered.

When he talks to youngsters such as Terrell Turner, Terrell Reese and Delashaun Dean, Wyatt can invoke the memory of former Oklahoma All-American Mark Clayton.

“Mark Clayton couldn’t even bench-press 100 pounds when he got there,” Stoops said.

Said Wyatt: “The main thing is, Mark just put his hard hat on and went to work, in the weight room and on the practice field. It becomes a deal where it is infectious. The other guys start picking up on it, and before you knew it, we had a room full of guys who wanted to be great players.”

And when you have that, Wyatt can do what he does best – be a molder of young men.

On top of that, he can now apply the lessons learned from those 16- to 18-hour workdays in the NFL.

“One thing he always shows us is NFL tapes,” said junior receiver Mike Thomas.

“We like to see that in a coach, to see different things, the Rod Smiths, the Marvin Harrisons. You can see they are doing some of the same things that we are doing.

“It makes you feel good that you have a coach who has that kind of background to show you things and broaden your horizons.”

So thanks, NFL. You just helped college football get even better.

DARRELL WYATT FILE

Year – Team – Coaching position

2006 – Minnesota Vikings – receivers

2002-2005 – Oklahoma – receivers (passing game coordinator in 2005)

2001 – Oklahoma State – receivers/passing game coordinator

1997-2000 – Kansas – associate head coach/receivers

1996 – Baylor – receivers

1995 – Wyoming – receivers

1992-94 – Sam Houston State – receivers

1989-91 – Trinity Valley College – receivers/DBs

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SPRING GAME
When: 1:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Arizona Stadium

Admission: free

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